Cotton gin



T. A. PRATT July 3, @93

COTTON GIN Filed Feb. 25, 1952 T/mA m gg ATTORNEY Patented July 3, 1934-FIQE COTTON GIN Thomas A. Pratt, Wichita Falls, Tex, assignor ofone-half to Anna Wooldridge, Wichita Falls,

Tex.

Application February 26, 1932, Serial No, 595,268

1 Claim.

This invention relates to cotton gins and it has particular reference tothe so-called air blast type of cotton gin.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a gin of thecharacter specified, in the construction of which are included dual setsof saws, attending each of which sets of saws is an air blast nozzle.The invention is designed to fill the demand for a superior grade oflint cotton through the medium of a reginning process made possiblethrough the dual arrangement of elements aforesaid.

Another and important object of the invention resides in an adjustableair blast nozzle so arranged as to enable the same to be exteriorlyoperated to increase the passage of air through the nozzles to removeany obstruction therein which is likely to prevent free passage of airover one or more of the saws. Through this arrangement, positiveuniformity of air pressure is insured throughout the entire length ofthe saw assembly without the necessity of interrupting the operation ofthe gin.

The present invention is designed primarily for low speed ginning anddue to the presence of two sets of ginning elements, the upper set beingcomprised of saws of greater diameter than those of the lower set anddue to the fact that the lower saws operate at a lower speed, the teethof these saws are allowed to catch all of the lint one tooth can carryand consequently the lint is not broken when it is passed through theribs, a longer staple is obtained than can be secured by the high speedA further object of the invention resides in the provision of animproved auxiliary roll box into which is discharged the seed from theupper roll box after the same has been subjected to the action of theupper ginning assembly. This roll box is of such construction as toenable the same to be readily opened and closed for cleaning and forother purposes.

With the foregoing objects as paramount, the invention has particularreference to its salient features of construction and arrangement ofparts which will become manifest as the description proceeds, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view in vertical cross section.

Figure 2 is a detail view of the air blast nozzle adjusting device.

Figure 3 is a transverse section of the device shown in Figure 2.

Continuing with a more detailed description of the drawing, 1 designatesthe upper roll box of the gin into which the said cotton is initiallydeposited while the character 2 designates the huller breast. The sawshaft 3 carries a multiplicity of spaced saws 4, which conventionallyoperate between the ribs 5, stripping the lint off the seed in the rollbox 1 and carrying it into the air duct 6.

After the lint has been extracted from the seed, the latter fallsdownwardly between the ribs 5 and 7 into the hopper 8 of the lower rollbox or chamber 9 where the seed is again subjected to the action of thelower saw assembly 10. These saws, as apparent in Figure 1 extract theremaining lint from the seed carrying the same between the ribs 11 intothe air duct 12 of the lower air A last assembly. In fact, the reginningoperation is substantially the same as the first ginning operationexcept for the fact that the lower saws are smaller in diameter than theupper saws and are adapted to operate at a greater speed. lvloreover,the lower roll box or chamber 9 is provided with an agitator or beater13 which is effective in bringing seed into more intimate contact withthe saws in View of the fact that there is less density in the lowerroll box than in the roll box 1. Accordingly, it is convenient if notnecessary to provide some means, such as the beater 13, to insuremaximum eificiency in removing all of the lint from the seed before thelatter is discharged through the chute 14 below the lower roll box 9, tobe conveyed to a point of disposal by some suitable means as shown.

In the operation of the air blast gin, some difficulties have beenencountered by reason of obstructions forming in the nozzle 15, whichconsists simply of a narrow, elongated passage extending from one end ofthe saw assembly to the other and defined by vertical bafile plates 16,whose upper edges terminate short of the interior Walls of the fines 17.

Air under pressure entering the openings or passages 18 is blown throughthe nozzle 15 into the ducts 6 and 12 of the upper and lower air blastassemblies respectively. In so doing the lint cotton impaled upon theteeth of the saws 4 and 10 is disengaged and carried out of the ginthrough the ducts 6 and 12.

In the ordinary type of air blast gins, no provisions are made toeliminate obstructions forming in the nozzles and due to the fact thatthese nozzles are of fixed dimensions, the gin must be stopped in orderthat such obstructions might be removed manually. It frequently happensthat these obstructions go unnoticed for some time which gives rise todifiiculties due to the balling up of lint on the saws to which the airdoes not have access due to the presence of obstructions.

The present invention proposes to overcome the foregoing conditions anddisadvantages through the provision of a semi-cylindrical member 19shown in detail in Figures 2 and 3. This member is simply a shaft whichextends the full length of the saw assemblies 4 and 10 and is rotatablydisposed adjacent the nozzles 15. A suitable means, such as the crank 20in Figure 2 is provided to enable the operator to rotate the shaft andthereby move the fiat surface 0. thereof to a different positionrelative to the elongated nozzle 15.

The shaft 19 is shown in the upper portion of Figure l as being in suchposition as to allow maximum passage of air through the nozzle 15 Whilein the lower portion of Figure 1, the shaft is in such position as toreduce the area of the nozzle whereby to allow but a minimum passage ofair. The last mentioned position of the shaft is the normal operatingposition, that is to say, in this position, the required amount of airis allowed to pass through the nozzle 15 and the shaft remains in thisposition until some obstruction, such as a burr or the lik becomescaught in the nozzle and prevents free passage of air. When this occurs,the operator simply moves the crank 20 and changes the flattened face aof the shaft 19 to a new position, the position shown in the upper partof Figure 1, whereupon the air pressure is increased throughout the fulllength of the nozzle 15. In so increasing the air pressure, such forceis established as to dislodge the obstruction, whereupon the shaft 19may be returned to normal position as shown in the lower portion ofFigure 1. It requires only a momentary period to dislodge an obstructionin accordance with the foregoing and this may obviously be done withoutinterrupting the normal operation of the gin.

With reference to the improved type of roll box or chamber 9 referred toin the foregoing, it is pointed out that this chamber is constructed insections and hinged at 21, at the bottom of the lower ends of the twosections. Obviously, the outer section may be moved away from the sawassembly 10 so that ready access may be gained to the interior of theroll box whereby to clean the same.

It has been previously stated that normally, there is less density inthe lower roll box 9 than in the upper roll box 1. This is due of courseto the fact that most of the lint has been removed from the seed by theupper saw assembly. In the first place, the lower roll box has lesscapacity than the upper roll box and to further aid in bringing the seedinto intimate contact with the saws 10, the beater or agitator 13 isprovided. In addition to this, a gate 22 is hinged at b and supports theseed against the saws. An adjusting screw 23 may be actuated to bringgreater pressure upon the seed within the lower box and to bring themmore forcibly against the saws 10 so that no lint will be left remainingon the seed as they pass downwardy between the pins 24 projected betweenthe saws in the manner shown in the lower portion of Figure 1.

It is clearly apparent from the foregoing that through the medium of thedual ginning operation, a maximum amount of lint is removed from theseed and further, by reason of the novel means of adjusting the nozzles,more efficient ginning is obtained. The foregoing taken together withthe fact that the saw assemblies carry saws of unequal diameter makesfor more effective results for a slow speed gin since the conventionaltype of high speed gin employs only a single gin assembly and the sawsare not given a sufficient period of time to extract all of the lintfrom the seed. This condition is of no consequence in the presentinvention due to the fact that the seed, after having been subjected tothe action of the large, low speed saws are subjected to the action ofthe lower saws operating at a higher rate of speed with the result thatall of the lint is removed from the seed yet insuring a longer andconsequently more desirable staple.

Manifestly, the construction shown is capable of considerablemodification and such modification as is considered within the scope andmeaning of the appended claim is also considered within the spirit andintent of the invention.

What is claimed is:

In a cotton gin, the combination comprising upper and lower sawassemblies, the upper assembly comprising saws of greater diameter thanthe saws of the lower assembly, a roll box in attendance to each of saidassemblies, means in the roll box of the lower assembly for urgingcotton into more intimate contact with said saw assembly, an air blastflue adjacent each of said saw assemblies and having a longitudinalnozzle open to said saws, means for varying the width of said nozzles tothereby control the volume of air discharged therethrough, said meanscomprising a shaft disposed in each of said nozzles having alongitudinal flattened portion and means exteriorly of said gin forrotating said shaft to move the flattened portion of said shaft to theopening of said nozzle.

THOMAS A. PRATT.

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